Expanding broadband access should be Maine priority
Currently, there are efforts underway to increase access to high speed internet across Maine. This work is worth doing and supporting. Broadband access is truly vital.
Here is what broadband access means to my wife and me:
We both participate in Medicare, so as it is for all Medicare members, researching and signing up for a Part D prescription plan is an annual event. We go online through medicare.gov to research plans for the year and we manage our prescriptions via online portals. All online, all requiring solid, speedy connections (read: broadband).
My wife and I use our cell phones instead of landlines, which allows us to drop one needless subscription. However, Verizon’s cell coverage is poor where we live in Bowdoin, with cellular calls consistently failing or never beginning at all. Instead, our phones make calls over wi-fi. That means that we need broadband to call friends, family, or emergency services.
Our family, like so many Mainers, has spread out, and video chats have become our family link. Images and videos of our children and grandchildren come to us through the internet. These are our kids, and staying connected is vital.
To do all this, we use broadband. We need it for the everyday stuff, the nuts and bolts. It’s not flashy, it’s not space-age, we just have to have it. So while Maine’s state, county, and local governments discuss their AARPA funds, I’d ask that expanding broadband access be a priority.
Jim Moulton,
Bowdoin
Voting Larsen for MSAD 75 seat
I am voting for Ryan Larsen for the Harpswell School Board seat for MSAD 75. Since moving to Harpswell in 1976, I have witnessed the importance of school board elections as a mother, a teacher, a PTO member, a community activist and now as a retired educator. In the 70’s thru the 90’s, MSAD 75’s school system was one of the best in the state. It had an outstanding creative academic record, an excellent Special Education Department, and very competitive staff contracts. Families moved into the district because of the schools. Moreover, the School of all Board, the parents, and the community at large were actively supportive of all school personnel. Not entirely true today!
Ryan will have firsthand knowledge and accessibility of the educational process as a parent of students in the elementary, middle, and high school level. He will bring a fresh perspective to the board which is necessary, I believe, to meet the challenges ahead. Also, his work experiences skills lend themselves to a civil, collaborative approach in which all players are at the table. Cast your vote for Ryan Larsen!
Peg Newberg,
Harpswell
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